NH College Notebook: Rochester's DeSmith named UNH hockey team's MVP

Casey DeSmith, the University of New Hampshire hockey team's sophomore goalie out of Rochester, collected the Roger A. LeClerc Award that goes to the team's Most Valuable Player at the team's awards banquet.

Defenseman Eric Knodel, who will be a senior next season, was introduced as the team's 110th captain. Defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk, a junior-to-be, and backup goalie Jeff Wyer, who will be a senior, will be the alternate captains.

DeSmith's goals against average of 2.23 was third best in Hockey East and his save percentage of .924 ranked fifth best. He set a school record for consecutive minutes without allowing a goal with a span of 203 minutes, 32 seconds from Nov. 4 to Nov. 18. He was 19-10-7 for the season and had five shutouts.

Senior-to-be Kevin Goumas and junior-to-be Grayson Downing were the recipients of the Guy Smith Award presented to the best offensive player on the team. Goumas was tops in points with 10 goals and 32 assists for 42 points and Downing scored the most goals at 15-16-31.

Goumas also collected the Frank "The Fan" Halbert Fan Favorite Award. The Fan Favorite award is voted by the fans and was renamed in 2012 for the late Frank "The Fan" Halbert.

Senior captain Connor Hardowa won the Charles E. Holt Coaches Award, as voted by the coaching staff for the player who made large contributions both on and off the ice. Senior defenseman Brett Kostolansky earned the Robert A. Kullen Unsung Hero award.

Van Riemsdyk was named the winner of the Rod Langway Best Defenseman Award for his defensive play and senior Scott Pavelski won the Warren Brown Award, which is given annually to the team's best defensive forward.

Sophomore forward Matt Willows was named the Most Improved Player, freshman defenseman Harry Quast took the SID Knight Award for having the best grade point average on the team, junior defenseman Justin Agosta won the Whoop Snively Citizenship and Service Award for his commitment to the school and the community and Jeff Silengo received the SCO Nate Hardy Ironman Award.

Sophomore forward Johnny Gaudreau of Boston College was named the recipient of the Terry Morton Most Worthy Opponent Award.

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UNH sophomore swimmer Katie Mann and University of Vermont junior basketball forward Luke Apfeld, a graduate of Brewster Academy of Wolfeboro, won the America East Scholar-Athletes awards for their sports.

Mann won the 200 breast stroke and 200 and 400 individual medley races at the America East Swimming & Diving championships to help UNH to its first league title since a pair in 2005 and 2006. Mann then competed in those events at the NCAAs.

An English major, Mann has a 3.66 grade point average.

Apfeld was second on the team with 10.7 points a game and third in rebounding at 4.4 He helped the Catamounts to a 21-12 record and their eighth appearance in the America East title game in the last 11 seasons. Vermont lost in the championship contest Albany, 53-49.

A double major in English and sociology, Apfeld has a 3.82 grade point average.

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Want access to more Dartmouth College athletic events on your internet-connected devices?

You got it.

The Ivy League recently announced the conference's first-ever digital sports network.

Available to subscribers in August, The Ivy League Digital Network will be accessible on multiple devices, including PCs, smartphones and tablets, allowing for an all-new nine-channel network of Ivy League action anytime, anywhere. Each of the conference's eight schools will have their own individual channel and the Ivy League will have its own League-wide channel featuring all available digital content across the conference.

The new network will provide live and on-demand video and audio content from each school with interactive touch points that will consistently offer a personalized experience for Ivy League fans everywhere.

Former University of New Hampshire men's hockey standout Bobby Butler was selected to the 2013 U.S. men's national team.

Currently with the Nashville Predators of the NHL, Butler graduated from UNH in 2010. During his career, he played in 153 games, recording 61 goals and 60 assists for 121 points. As a senior, Butler was named a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award.

He recorded 29 goals on the year, finishing second in the nation. Butler will begin competition with Team USA at the International Ice Hockey Federation Men's World Championship, taking place from May 3-19. The tournament will take place in Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden.